Design Simplicity Delivers Leadership

JB Attachments’ Multi-Coupler Series 1 automatic front locking device entered the market more than seven years ago and is still a market leader today

The Multi-Coupler Series 2 on display at Civenex

There are numerous quick hitches on the market with claims to being automatic with single or double locking devices; and there is no doubt most meet the new regulatory environment that is emerging in relation to quick hitches.

According to JB Attachments, the problem reflected in many of these hitches is that they are heavy and bulky, are complicate to operate and have complex mechanisms – often with catchy names to distinguish them from one another.

In response JB Attachments set out to create the lightest, most simple and best looking quick hitch in the market.

"As a pioneer in the development of automatic locking hitches, the design team at JB hitches, the design team at JB Attachments has developed a knowledge of quick hitch mechanisms and durable casting techniques that most other manufacturers are only beginning to explore," the company claims.

JB Attachments’ Multi-Coupler Series 1 automatic front locking device entered the market more than seven years ago – long before manufacturers had even considered the concept of fully automatic locking hitches – and is still a market leader today.

It claims the product is "light, simple in its mechanism and easy to use — and we think — great looking".

The trend toward front and rear pin locking devices has led JB Attachments to develop the Series 2 Multi-Coupler using the same fundamental principles used in bringing the Multi-Couple Series 1 to the market.

The strength of JB attachments’ Multi-Couplers lies in two areas: simplicity in design, and in the use of state-of-the-art techniques in casting and metals to create a light-weight, strong, durable and attractive-looking product.

"We believe the key design objective is to have as few possible hoses, springs, latches and other moving parts. These might be fine in an intricate Swiss watch but in the rugged environments that the Multi-Coupler must work in, the more intricate and complex the mechanisms are, the greater the opportunity there is for something to go wrong," company says.

To make the Series 2 mechanism automatically lock — and stay locked – onto both front and rear pins has made the mechanism slightly more complicated, but JB Attachments believes its focus on a minimalist approach has led to the Series 2 having the most simple of all dual-locking mechanisms currently on the market.

"The next step — and this is where we believe most of our competitors fail – is to put energy and effort into using the right casting techniques and the right metals to make the coupler light, strong and durable — as well as being a good looking piece of kit," the company says.

"Although it is more expensive to cast using superior metals than to fabricate, to achieve qualities that include, minimal weight with maximum strength and durability and a low profile that we have in the Series 1 and Series 2 Multi-Couplers, we have worked with casting as we do not believe the desired results can be optimised with fabricating techniques."

All JB Attachments’ Multi-Couplers are cast in New Zealand through Australian and NZ partners. Service and parts is another key area of focus for JB Attachments as quick hitches perform higher technical and safety functions than other contracting attachments — making back-up service and parts an important consideration.

JB Attachments has factory outlets in Auckland, NZ and Brisbane, Australia where its Multi-Couplers are made — with full service/repair workshops of its own in Christchurch, NZ and Melbourne, Australia.

Service and repairs are handled through agents in New South Wales, Western Australia and the United States.